ElectricPaladin
09-07-2012, 04:22 PM
One of the earliest things I recall about starting with Tau was being warned away from the Tau piranha. I was told that it was overcosted and fragile, that its weapon systems were either unremarkable - S5, AP5 Assault 3 is unremarkable in a codex that includes pulse weaponry - or require that the piranha get dangerously close to its target. Unlike a space marine land speeder, you can't air-drop a piranha right behind its target and use the fusion blaster to unexpectedly frag a tank, and neither can the piranha scout move or outflank like a land speeder storm.
Of course, all this was right after I bought my first Tau model - a piranha :rolleyes:.
However, I'm wondering if the changes to the disruption pod - an innocuous but incredibly important piece of Tau wargear - wrought in the newest round of FAQs might not turn the piranha from a millstone to an incredibly destructive unit.
6th Edition granted all skimmers Jink, a rule that gives the vehicle a 5+ cover save if it moves at least six inches (a movement that costs Fast skimmers like the piranha nothing) and a 4+ cover save if it sacrifices its shooting to go flat-out.
Additionally, the new FAQ changes the way the disruption pod works. Formerly, the Tau disruption pod granted the vehicle it was equipped to a 4+ cover save if the shooter was more than 12' away. The new disruption pod merely grants Shrouding, improving any available cover save by 2 poinrs.
Jink + Shrouding means that a Tau piranha now enjoys a 3+ cover save if it moves at all and a 2+ cover save if it gives up shooting in order to race about the board.
Consider a few more points:
The Tau piranha comes with a pair of gun drones. As a Fast Attack choice, both the gun drones and the piranha are now scoring units in one mission.
In all missions, gun drones are at least denial units once they disembark from the piranha.
Gun drones are also jump infantry, which makes them, very mobile and surprisingly ok in close combat.
Those gun drones carry twin-linked weapons, which makes their snap-shots unusually reliable. Since their BS is 2, you aren't missing much if you have them snap-shoot, anyway...
In other words, I now see some potential for the Tau piranha.
First of all, 65 points isn't all that high a price to pay for a surprisingly hard-to-kill infantry-killer. S5 AP5 doesn't kill much, but it does kill infantry, and front armor 11 is immune to most small arms fire. Get a piranha around the side of a squad of marines (or something similar) and have it unload its burst cannon directly into the multi-melta guy your opponent thought was safe. If you kill the threatening part of the squad, the piranha is relatively safe. If you don't, your piranha still has a 3+ cover save against the ensuing counter-attack.
70 points also isn't too much to pay for a tank-hunter that can simply skid around the board enjoying a 2+ save while it waits for an opportunity to get around behind enemy armor and put that fusion blast where it will really count.
I think that a single, versatile piranha squadron might be a good idea: maybe two burst cannon piranhas flanking a single fusion blaster piranha. That's 200 points for three hard-to-hit skimmers, shooting 10 S5 AP5 shots a turn and saving a fusion blaster for finishing off that land raider/leman russ/monolith/whatever and carrying a pack of objective deniers/claimers for that last-minute VP grab.
I'm... beginning to see the value of the piranha.
What do you think?
Of course, all this was right after I bought my first Tau model - a piranha :rolleyes:.
However, I'm wondering if the changes to the disruption pod - an innocuous but incredibly important piece of Tau wargear - wrought in the newest round of FAQs might not turn the piranha from a millstone to an incredibly destructive unit.
6th Edition granted all skimmers Jink, a rule that gives the vehicle a 5+ cover save if it moves at least six inches (a movement that costs Fast skimmers like the piranha nothing) and a 4+ cover save if it sacrifices its shooting to go flat-out.
Additionally, the new FAQ changes the way the disruption pod works. Formerly, the Tau disruption pod granted the vehicle it was equipped to a 4+ cover save if the shooter was more than 12' away. The new disruption pod merely grants Shrouding, improving any available cover save by 2 poinrs.
Jink + Shrouding means that a Tau piranha now enjoys a 3+ cover save if it moves at all and a 2+ cover save if it gives up shooting in order to race about the board.
Consider a few more points:
The Tau piranha comes with a pair of gun drones. As a Fast Attack choice, both the gun drones and the piranha are now scoring units in one mission.
In all missions, gun drones are at least denial units once they disembark from the piranha.
Gun drones are also jump infantry, which makes them, very mobile and surprisingly ok in close combat.
Those gun drones carry twin-linked weapons, which makes their snap-shots unusually reliable. Since their BS is 2, you aren't missing much if you have them snap-shoot, anyway...
In other words, I now see some potential for the Tau piranha.
First of all, 65 points isn't all that high a price to pay for a surprisingly hard-to-kill infantry-killer. S5 AP5 doesn't kill much, but it does kill infantry, and front armor 11 is immune to most small arms fire. Get a piranha around the side of a squad of marines (or something similar) and have it unload its burst cannon directly into the multi-melta guy your opponent thought was safe. If you kill the threatening part of the squad, the piranha is relatively safe. If you don't, your piranha still has a 3+ cover save against the ensuing counter-attack.
70 points also isn't too much to pay for a tank-hunter that can simply skid around the board enjoying a 2+ save while it waits for an opportunity to get around behind enemy armor and put that fusion blast where it will really count.
I think that a single, versatile piranha squadron might be a good idea: maybe two burst cannon piranhas flanking a single fusion blaster piranha. That's 200 points for three hard-to-hit skimmers, shooting 10 S5 AP5 shots a turn and saving a fusion blaster for finishing off that land raider/leman russ/monolith/whatever and carrying a pack of objective deniers/claimers for that last-minute VP grab.
I'm... beginning to see the value of the piranha.
What do you think?